Avengers Group Project
by ndub33
Summary: This is where I will be posting my contributions to an Avengers collaborative project.


Niall Wachtman

ndub33

AVENGERS AUDIO PROJECT-IRON MAN PART ONE

THE SCENE: _A warren of roughly-appointed rooms somewhere beneath the Gobi Desert. A dirty, wounded TONY STARK sits amid a standing group of larger men, who are obviously there to guard him. He is speaking to a visage on a view screen mounted to a wall. The image on the view screen is that of THE MANDARIN._

MANADRIN (Voice coming through speakers mounted throughout the room): "Mr. Stark, you are a guest, and a new employee of The Ten Rings. We are a group dedicated to world reform. We represent the millions of disenfranchised citizens of the world who are disillusioned and disgusted with the state of our globe. We are agents of change, and we will go to any lengths to enact that change. Your knowledge of advanced weaponry will indeed be an asset to our cause. Welcome."

STARK (weary and in obvious pain): " Wh-Who are you? How did I get here? What have you done to me, why do I have electrical current running into my chest?"

MANDARIN: "Ah…the cables…a result of an unfortunate mis-execution in our plan to bring you here. The cables power an electromagnet that we have sadly had to embed in you chest Mr. Stark. You were riddled with hundreds of tiny fragments of shrapnel. My explosives experts perhaps overestimated the payload that it would take to disable your vehicle. They have been replaced, I assure you, and I do apologize. It was absolutely our intent to bring you here unscathed.

At any rate, it will take years of surgery to remove all of the shrapnel that is lodged in your body, Mr. Stark. We don't have years, none of us do. Not you, not me, not the people who are counting on our success. The electromagnet keeps the shrapnel that is closest to your heart from penetrating any further and killing you. "

As for me, I have gone by many names. The media has assumed that I lead The Ten Rings, which I suppose is reasonably accurate. They have also tagged me as 'The Mandarin', which is wholly inaccurate as a description of my background. But, I find it to be charmingly melodramatic, so I tolerate it".

STARK(coughs-he is not well): "Man, and people say that _I _have an ego… so, you think that in gratitude for saving my life, I'll spend the rest of it making bombs to support your terrorist agenda? You don't know me very well. Humility isn't a quality that I have a huge supply of."

MANDARIN (amused): "You're welcome. Tony. I know you far better far better than you might imagine. You see, I have been following your hedonistic, self-motivated life for quite some time. I would never try to appeal to a sense of humility that I know doesn't exist. I will however, appeal to the common sense you possess as a man of science. Do what I ask, and live. Fight me, and I'll have my men shut down the power supply to the magnet, and we'll let the shrapnel do its work. It may take an hour, or a year. But you'll spend your remaining days here, in the dark, waiting for your heart to shred. "

THE SCENE _shifts to a larger room in the warren, set up as a crude laboratory. It is a couple of weeks after the first scene._

STARK (sounding healthier, as he is healing from most of his previous wounds): "Dr. Yinsen, you're going to have to trust me on this-I know how to get us out of here. I am going to ask our 'hosts' for some things that are a little…weird. Please back me up on this. "

DR. HO YINSEN: "Shhh…shhhh…they have bugs everywhere. They can see and hear us breathing, Tony! Now quietly-explain again please why we need Plutonium if we have no intention of making them a bomb?"

STARK: "In the U.S, we would call the plutonium our red herring, Doctor Yinsen. A. - It keeps them physically out of here because they are scared to death of radiation poisoning. B- If we leave it out, and wear protection, it will scramble all of their surveillance equipment, and C- It allows them to think that we actually are making something for them to use."

DR. HO YINSEN: "Don't condescend me, Tony; I spent more than a few years at MIT. I know very well what a red herring is. So, the Plutonium has nothing at all to do with what we are actually making?

STARK: "No, what I have in mind is more stable, and a hell of a lot more powerful. My dad started plans for something he called an Arc Reactor. It was intended as a cheap, renewable energy source. I've been dinging around with his old plans for a while now, but I think it may be time to get serious about actually building one. "

DR. HO YINSEN: "And you intend to wear this 'Arc Reactor 'to escape from here?"

STARK: "I intend for both of us to, if you're game. Hey…if I can get Plutonium from them, wouldn't it be reasonable to expect that they would be willing to slide us a bottle of nice Scotch, too?"

DR. HO YINSEN: "Stark, you scare me. I am pinning my future to a crazy man."

THE SCENE _shifts once more, the same room but six months later. There are sounds of chaos in the background; Men yelling, shots being fired. The steady hum of large machinery being warmed up starts out low and quiet, but builds in intensity and pitch until it stops near the end of the scene. _

STARK: "Doctor, what is going on out there? "

DR. HO YINSEN: "I think it's an air strike. It seems that someone learned the location of our little summer retreat."

STARK: "Great…and they couldn't wait another half-hour. OK, we can still make this go. How close am I to a full charge?"

DR. HO YINSEN: "For God sake, Tony, hold still! If you disconnect the cables from the chest plate, we'll have to start all over again. We don't have a second shot at this!"

STARK: "If I'm more than 50% loaded, I'm unhooking-get ready to jump up on the table, I'll hook you up and get your armor charged".

DR. HO YINSEN: "Tony, be reasonable. I don't need the Arc Reactor to live. For you it is different. It powers the electromagnet in your chest. You will need every ounce of energy to keep it running and find your way out of here past the Ten Rings' mercenaries."

STARK: "I didn't build you a suit of armor of your own to _not_ use it, Doctor…although it _is _a bold fashion statement, if I do say so myself. I'm unhooking…"

DR. HO YINSEN: "No Tony, lay down. Finish charging. I have a better idea."

STARK: "Where are you going with the Plutonium? Put the lid back on, you'll kill us all!"

DR. HO YINSEN: "You should be fully charged in about two minutes. I promise not to ignite this until I see you are clear, Tony. Charge up and go. This is a great thing you have created, Tony Stark…your father's Arc Reactor. It will change the world. Go, and finish what you started here".

_Briefly, nothing is spoken. The sound of gunfire and the yelling panicked men intensifies, indicating that the staff of the Ten Rings compound has seen Dr. Yinsen and his fatal burden. The background hum of the new power supply in Stark's chest charging accelerates to a high pitched wail, then stops. It is followed in short order by the sound of two very heavy metal boots hitting the floor._

STARK: (His voice echoes slightly, as if his head is encased in a bucket, indicating that he is now wearing some kind of helmet. He is talking to himself, and is trying to contain the onset of a panic attack): "OK Tony, think-if you look for Yinsen, it's a no-win. Even if you find him, either he or the Ten Rings goons will set off that Plutonium before you can do anything to prevent it. Stick to the plan-get to the surface and use the propulsion system we built into this suit of armor to get yourself away from here…"

_The_ SCENE _shifts once more-it is a year later. _STARK_ is sitting in an expensive leather executive chair, behind the desk in his private office at Stark Industries. He is asleep, but clearly it is not a peaceful rest._

STARK: (muttering in his sleep)"…get to the surface and use the propulsion system we built into this suit of armor to get yourself away from here…AHHHHHHH!"

_Mild sounds of disturbance as Stark wakes up suddenly, and is momentarily disoriented._

STARK (breathless, to himself): "God…still having the dreams, after a year. Is there enough scotch in the world to drown that out? Dr. Yinsen, I'm so sorry….so sorry…"

_An electronic tone indicates someone paging Stark at his desk via a video conference. It is his Personal Assistant _PEPPER POTTS.

PEPPER: "I was going to compliment you on getting to the office so early-but you look like you camped here last night."

STARK: "I did…I…have some stuff to work out. I needed the quiet after everyone went home…no phone calls, no e-mails…"

PEPPER: "…Wouldn't want to interrupt your consultation with the eminent Dr. Jack Daniels."

STARK: "Are we gonna have this argument first thing on a Tuesday…"

PEPPER: "Wednesday…"

STARK:" …morning? Look, I'm bailing out of here; I'll work from home today. I was up late."

PEPPER: "Tony, you have a lunch appointment with The Secretary of State this afternoon! "

STARK: "Right…uh, tell him…tell him I had t fly to Toronto on urgent business."

PEPPER: "We don't have any business partners in Toronto".

STARK: "Then get us some! And before lunch!"

_An electronic beep indicates that _STARK _has terminated the transmission. While taking to Pepper, he had turned on a video screen and is watching a news story that has caught his attention._

Voice of a NEWSCASTER:"…and this exclusive military footage from the southern New Mexico desert, shows what appears to be an enormous, green humanoid creature, destroying heavily fortified Army structures. Military spokespeople have denied any unusual activity in the New Mexico Region, and have suggested that a classified training exercise has been inadvertently captured on video…"

_The beep of the videoconferencing device is head again, indicating that _STARK _has reconnected with _PEPPER.

STARK: "Pepper, find Happy and tell him I need to…"

HAPPY HOGAN (via the speaker):" I'm here, boss".

STARK: "Happy, are you hitting on Pepper _again? _Do you actually ever do any work?"

HOGAN (after a long, embarrassed silence, clears his throat): "What do you need, boss?"

STARK: "No, no, that can wait a second…are you having any luck? Have you two actually gone out yet?"

PEPPER (through the speaker): "Tony, I'm sending him into your office. You two can have your little-boy conversation, and I can get some work done. And one more thing: You're both pigs."

STARK: "Hey, I think I might resent…"

_He is interrupted by the door opening and _HOGAN _entering the office._

HOGAN: "Jeez, Mr. Stark, I really wish you wouldn't say stuff like that. She thinks I'm an idiot anyway. "

STARK:" Then she doesn't know the real you yet, Hap. Let her see that. I was just having a little fun. But seriously, I want you to keep an eye on Enterprise Security for a few days. I'm sending The Bodyguard out of town."

HOGAN:" He gets vacation? Isn't he a robot?"

STARK: "It's not a vacation. It's more of a goodwill mission. I don't have to tell you that I need to repair a lot of public perception damage that took place at Stark Enterprises while I was gone last year. The Mandarin has a really effective propaganda machine. In spite of my best efforts since then, half of the world thinks that I actually volunteered to join him and make his weapons. The work we are doing with arc reactor technology as a green energy source has changed some minds, but we need more. There is something going on in New Mexico, and Iron Man and I agree that he may be able to lend some assistance. Having an S.E. employee doing positive things at a high level of visibility can't hurt us. And just so that you know, he's not a robot."

HOGAN: "How does he feel about this trip, then? He doesn't really seem like the PR type."

STARK: "It was his idea. Eh, Hap…he's a do-gooder. I don't think the PR angle even occurred to him. That was my spin. He wants to save the world, just like all of the other spandex guys."

HOGAN: "OK, I'll mind the store. Pepper says you're heading out too."

STARK: "Yep, I'll be at home for the next few days…"

HOGAN: "I know; You've got some stuff to work through, don't need the interruptions."

STARK ( a little taken aback by Happy's prescience): "Uh…yeah. I'll be on voice and IM if anything comes up."

_Footsteps decreasing in volume indicate _HOGAN _has left the office. STARK is mentally planning his next steps:_

STARK: "Quick stop at home to suit up, then I'm off to New Mexico. I've never flown the armor cross-continent before, I'll need to do some estimates and maybe beef up the energy flow to the boots. Maybe a couple of weapon add-ons too. That green thing looked huge and bad-tempered. Tony Stark: armored vigilante. Who'da thought?"

6


End file.
